Has anyone had any luck treating keratosis pilaris?

[lorettalemon]

I've had awful trouble with keratosis pilaris on my legs for a couple of years. I've seen GPs and dermatologists but they've just prescribed greasy moisturisers which make my legs feel sticky but don't help. I've been told that it's not a condition which is "curable" as such but it's so bad and so unsightly I'm desperate to do something about it. It looks terrible and my legs feel itchy and horrible all the time. I'd be really grateful for any suggestions if anyone's had any luck getting it under control!

Bump - anyone?!

Never cured mine on my arms. Tried lots of things. Best thing is almond oil with salt (not sea salt) as a scrub, then soaked off in a hot bath and then apply a standard body moisturiser afterwards.

This works. Pricey but really effective

www.ameliorate.com/

I seriously reduced mine by sorting out my diet. I’m very low carb and mostly sugar free but I was very strict for 3 months and not only did I lose weight but my arms are clear and smooth. Mine were shocking and very obvious after each pregnancy and I had bought so many creams and dry brushing but it seems working from the inside out has been my answer.

*after each pregnancy it got worse I meant. I had it from late teens.

I’ve had KP to varying degrees for over 30 years on my upper arms. My brother and his son have it too.
Mine worsens when my skin isn’t moisturised or, if it is over moisturised (too much cream or cream too rich).

Hot showers and baths tend to dry out my skin so I tend to use tepid or warm water. After bathing or showering I use a light moisturiser (quite sparingly).
I also try to avoid close fitting synthetic fabrics on my arms and tend to wear something loose or leave them bare (obviously on your legs you’d probably struggle to be bare unless your perpetually on a beach!).
I exfoliate very very lightly as if I’m too enthusiastic about it the KP just flares up.
Getting sunlight on my arms has a really good effect, after a holiday somewhere sunny my arms are always less troubled by the KP.

Hope this helps xx

I had it terribly on my arms. I gave up alcohol and coincidentally also started using a vitamin E cream on my skin (cheap, super drug) and it really helped! So not ei44 which is the cure...!

The most effective treatment for me is exfoliating with a Moroccan-style kiis glove that I got on Amazon (they’re pretty brutal) and them moisturising whilst akin is still wet with an oil - either pure almond oil or Palmers bath and body oil.

Years ago I used to use the Moroccan black olive soap too - the jelly-like stuff - and that was brilliant.

Argh. Typed a big long post & it's gone.

Basically, use these exfoliating cloths every week or so after a long soak in the bath. There are YT & various other instructional things available online. It's grimly fascinating the first time you do it. And satisfying.

Or these daily.

And a cream with lactic acid, urea, and/or salicylic acid in. I use this cream, directly after I've dried off (probably still slightly damp, so I use less & it goes further/doesn't feel greasy).

The cloths aren't a cheap outlay but are considerably durable. If you look after them.

Should say - I'm late 30s. I've had it since (at least) early teens. Probably childhood. Now smooth for the first time as an adult.

I had it for years, on my upper arms and thighs.
I tried half a dozen different lotions and potions from the GP and nothing really made too much of a difference.

I read a blog post about an exfoliation technique and decided to give it a try, it took a couple of months but it cleared up completely and it’s been 6 years now and it’s never come back.

The exfoliation technique is basically varying degrees of exfoliation,
three times a week use a sugar scrub (I used demorara sugar, olive oil and vitamin E oil)
Once a week do a coffee scrub (coffee grounds and olive oil)
And every other day use a exfoliating cloth.

Once it cleared up I dropped down to only doing the sugar scrub once a week and the coffee scrub once a week and used the cloth before my daily shower.

Now I only do the sugar scrub every couple of weeks, I put coffee grounds in my sugar scrub to kill two birds with one stone.
I still use the exfoliating cloth most days in the shower.

Mine improved with Eucerin, it’s probably the greasy moisturiser you described OP,
Then I keep it in check with coconut oil,
from the grocery section

Bovril are either of those gentle enough to use on your face? Although my skin’s sensitive, I’m using that to mean it breaks out easily and is atopic/reactive, rather than red/sore/flaky etc, and it generally responds well to exfoliation. I do use chemical exfoliating pads but think I could do with something physical. A konjac sponge didn’t seem to do anything for me.

I find glycolic acid gel (for the face) from Superdrug works very well.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/nov/08/beauty-treatments-for-keratosis-pilaris-sali-hughes

Sali Hughes in the Guardian recommended these a few years ago.

Thank you ever so much for the suggestions everyone! I think maybe I've been avoiding exfoliating thinking it would irritate things but I should be doing it! Thanks also for the suggestions on the types of creams to use!

Use Flexitol for cracked heels every day. Works beautifully 👌

This is a great thread! DS aged 21 has KP on his arms and when he was a teen he was horribly self conscious about it. Hes ok with it now but I'll show him these suggestions

Nip fab exfoliator ( smells like grapefruit ) then the Nip Fab body smoothing moisturiser

They work well for me on my arms where I've had KP for years

Ameliorate also works but smells horrible

Could anyone tell me which ameliorte product they recommend? I have tried the body wash but didn't have any success with it

Loads of things I might try. I've had it horribly on my arms, upper and lower, for about 8 years now and so far nothing has shifted it.

Try using hair removal cream. It dissolves the keratin.

at the moment I'm using the ordinary's glycolic toner and it's a lot better than anything else i have tried! and it's not tooooo sticky (i absolutely cannot bear to be sticky). HOWVERR big disclaimer i am pregnant and when i was last pregnant my KP was also massively improved (i think because my body hair just stops growing almost entirely!) SO i'll have to let you know in feb/march if this is the real deal or not!

i will say though that i missed a couple of days and the scale started coming back.

A long course of antibiotics from GP, went soap free too, stopped all the rubbing and scrubbing, used e45 lotion sparingly. Never came back. Good luck OP.